Long Term Evolution (LTE) Network of the Third Generation Mobile Communication comprises Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) and Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network. The E-UTRAN comprises the set of Evolved NodeB (eNB), and the EPC comprises Mobile Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (S-GW), etc. The network architecture is flat. The eNB connects MME/S-GW via S1 interface, and eNBs connect with each other via X2 interface, wherein the S1 interface and the X2 interface are logical interfaces. One MME/S-GW can manage one or more eNBs, and one eNB also can be controlled by multiple MMEs/S-GWs. One eNB can manage one or more cells. LTE Advanced (LTE-A) system is evolved from LTE system which has a network architecture identical to that of LTE. The LTE-A adopts new technologies such as coordinated multi-point, frequency spectrum polymerization and Relay to enhance the system performance.
Currently, considering about energy conservation, environmental protection and cost reduction, the telecommunication operation business pays more and more attention on the energy saving issue of the wireless communication apparatus. While in wireless communication network, base stations not only have a huge amount but also consume great energy. Therefore, reducing energy consumption is the key to solve the issue of energy saving.
In practical application, the amount and the capacity of base stations are established according to the regional traffic, and traffic requirements on some peak periods will be taken into consideration for the traffic. For example, the traffic during working time is larger than that of non-working time in office areas. Therefore, the traffic within the working time will be considered when the base stations are established, and also the operation of all the base stations within the working time must be ensured to meet the requirements of traffic in the office areas.
However, during the non-working time, the traffic in office areas will apparently decrease, which will cause the surplus of wireless communication capability. In the related art, for some cells in the area with low traffic, preferable energy saving effect is generally achieved by adopting sleeping method. It should be explained that cells entering into sleeping are all capacity enhanced cells, that is to say, the cells are mainly used for providing capacity for the network. When the capacity enhanced cells enter into sleeping, the network still can ensure the continuity of coverage.
Simultaneously, some cells in the area with low traffic may be coverage enhanced cells, that is to say, the cells are mainly used for providing the coverage for the network. Preferable energy saving effect can be achieved by the sleeping of the coverage enhanced cells. However, inventors find that when the coverage enhanced cells enter into sleeping, the network may be not able to ensure the coverage of the area, and thereby the communication of users is affected.